Posts Tagged ‘SCMLpp’
Spriter API for C++
If I ever have a wish for making video games, it’s to do it faster and better. That’s why I spend a lot of time on tools. I don’t really like doing tool work, but it is important to developing an efficient workflow. This time, that tool is a C++ API for loading and using the Spriter character animation format, SCML.
Spriter is an animation creation application. You drop images into the editor which will be put together to make your character. Then you can set keyframes as you move the images around. With this style of animation, the movement of the character is interpolated from these keyframes to give a smooth, continuous animation at any playback speed. The animations are saved in a special XML format, named SCML. Spriter had a very successful Kickstarter campaign this year, so it is in active development. However, that is specifically for the editor itself and the data format. The “plugins” that allow you to use the animations in various game engines and programming languages are community-driven.